A/N: Here is the next installment of my Jerlita Roleswap AU. Hope you all enjoy it~
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way, shape, or form.
Note: Remember, any episodes not mentioned either as the inspiration for a chapter or just in passing are not part of the AU, mainly because the roleswap makes them useless, and those only mentioned in passing are just filler and/or would be the same no matter who has what role.
Beta read by FP7ETDP43
Fun Fact: The original title to this chapter was "The Photo Prank", but seeing as how I changed the context of said photo, I also had to change the title.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
"The group takes on the Ice Replika as Ulrich's reaction to a certain photo makes Yumi think twice about the choice she made last summer."
Episode 65: My Most Important Person
(Based on Cold Sweat)
"If you had the choice, would you rather be a screwdriver or a monkey wrench?"
Yumi was lost in her own head as she and Hiroki walked to school together one Thursday morning. She herself wasn't sure what she was thinking about. She just blanked out. Maybe it was due to her annoyance at the one talking to her...
"Hey. Are you dreaming or what?"
Her brother's inquiry brought her back to reality.
"What was that?" she asked.
"If you were a tool, which one would you choose?" Hiroki repeated his question.
She scoffed, "Can't you think of anything less dumb to ask?" She knew her sourness at him was leaking into her words, but she couldn't help it. Nor could she say anything; she had lost fair and square.
"Sure," he replied, with a smug smile on his face. "Are you still in love with Ulrich, or aren't ya?"
The two had reached the campus by now. They stopped right inside the front gates. "I'll never be a tool, but you'll always be a fool," she retorted, before muttering, "Idiot brother..."
He giggled before the two went their separate ways.
Seriously, the only time he asked random questions like that, it meant that he was covering something up. She paused, as a realization came to her. He was up to something, wasn't he...?
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Today in the Kadic News!" Milly was announcing. She and Tamiya were in the courtyard, passing out copies of today's paper. "Rosa Petitjean and the tuna salad caper! Jim Morales tells you how to throw a shot-put without breaking your toes! Suzanne Hertz's experiment of making a voltmeter out of your MP3 player!"
Yumi made her way through the crowd, all chatting away and holding their own copies of the paper. She passed the two news girls just in time to hear the following.
"Plus, a brief but exclusive look into the secret past of Yumi Ishiyama!"
Said girl immediately halted when she heard her name. "Huh?"
She quickly grabbed the copy Tamiya was waving around before the younger could blink, and opened it. Sure enough, there it was. The photo Hiroki had chosen to submit today, following her loss the day before, was printed on the first page in full color.
Yumi held the newspaper up for Milly and Tamiya to see, open to that photo, "Where did you get this?!"
"Sorry, but we never reveal our sources," Milly replied. "It's an absolutely fundamental rule of journalism."
The elder lowered her glare further, "My brother gave it to you, didn't he?"
Milly and Tamiya both shared a glance between them before nodding in tandem. "He said it was because you lost a bet."
Yumi sighed, "That's true, but...doesn't mean I have to like it..." She paused, as a realization hit her. "When did he give it to you?" He was supposed to do it this morning.
"Last night," Milly answered. "Right before curfew."
So after she lost, then. At least Hiroki didn't cheat. But still...he promised to submit the photo this morning, so she could have a full twenty-four hours to prepare herself for the embarrassment. And he broke his promise...
But she still lost that bet, and he sent it after she lost the bet. So she had no right to complain.
"Fine," she growled, before storming off to the rec room. It was fair, but she was still mad about it.
Maybe she could take out her frustration through a game of foosball with her friends...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
William and Ulrich were on either side of the foosball table. Odd was the spectator, but today, he was acting more like a sports announcer, as he held the ball.
"In this league cup final, the Scottish Scotch pies lead six to five against the German Liverwursts! The tension is high! You can heard a fly buzz–"
He was cut off by a slightly annoyed William, "Get on with it."
"Just let him ramble," Ulrich replied. "Get it all out of his system now, so he'll be less annoying later."
Odd feigned offense, but didn't have time to voice it aloud, because he was interrupted by the rec room door suddenly slamming open. Thanks to the sound, everyone's attention was drawn to who had entered: none other than a pissed off Yumi Ishiyama. Everyone else immediately turned away, not wanting to poke the bear further, but Yumi marched right up to the foosball table where her friends were.
"Uh, hey Yumi," William attempted. "Everything okay?"
"What do you think?!" she snapped, before holding up the newspaper in her hand, still open to the page with the photo.
It was of a younger Yumi in her house back in Japan, her age about ten years. She was wearing a pink fairy gown with blue wings, a tiara on her head, a wand in her hand, and completing the look was a wig with long, wavy blonde hair. Her black shoes clashed with the rest of the outfit. On her face was a blush and a tight frown, clearly uncomfortable to be wearing the costume.
So it was no wonder that current Yumi was so mad.
"Why are you angry?" Odd attempted with a nervous smile. "You look adorable!" He was struggling hard to hide his giggles.
"I look ridiculous!" Yumi hotly corrected.
"No, for once, Della Robbia is right," Caroline Savorani spoke up from behind the quartet, in a teasing manner. "It's true, pink does work wonders for you, Yumi. "
"My color is black," Yumi growled, her glare smoldering. If looks could kill, Caroline would be dead a thousand times over. "Black. Like your eye will be if you don't back off!"
Caroline just shrugged before talking away toward the television area, where Sorya Abulabbas was waiting for her.
William was quiet, "So who sent in the photo? Do you know?"
"Yeah. It was Hiroki," Yumi lowly muttered, still upset as she leaned against the foosball table. "Ever since we watched Kiwi over Christmas break," on behalf of Odd, "Oto-san has been discussing how he plans to get a dog once I move out for university. So Hiroki and I made a bet about what kind of dog he wants to get. I guessed a large one, while Hiroki guessed with small. Last night at dinner, we asked Oto-san the question, and his answer was, and I quote, 'a small dog, like Lichi'."
Odd didn't comment on the misnaming of his dog (he actually found it cute), instead summing up her story, "So you lost the bet."
"I lost the bet," Yumi confirmed. "The punishment was that the winner could choose an embarrassing photo of the loser and submit it to the paper this morning."
"So you knew this was coming," William said. "Then why are you so upset?"
"Hey," Ulrich swiftly stepped in, "she has every right to be. The photo is clearly embarrassing to her."
"Hiroki also sent the picture last night, and not this morning, despite our promise," Yumi growled, "but thanks, Ulrich."
Hiroki broke a promise to wait until this morning? Ulrich filed that away for later. "It's nothing," he was referring to her gratitude. "We all have embarrassing childhood memories that we'd rather forget. When I was seven, my parents and I were having Christmas dinner at my grandparents' house. I was at the kids' table with my cousins, and the younger ones were doing this puppet show by putting olives on their fingers, and I joined in. But the happiness didn't last for long; my father was not happy. That was the first time I remember being embarrassed by him. My mother brings it up as a fond memory, but he still uses it as an example of his 'disappointment in me'."
Yumi's anger had decreased the more he spoke, and by the time he finished his story, it had subsided, "I'm sorry your dad still uses it against you."
He shrugged, "It's alright. I stopped caring a long time ago."
Her gaze softened in fondness, "Still. And thanks again. I feel a lot better thanks to you." She suddenly felt uncomfortable around him—the good kind—and she wasn't sure why. "I'm going to find Jérémie and Aelita. See you guys later."
The three boys waved at her as she left.
Ulrich then grabbed his bag from against the wall and slung it over his shoulder. "I need to find Hiroki. I have a few words to exchange with him."
Yumi was upset about the boy breaking a promise to wait until the morning to submit that photo. Maybe Ulrich could do something about it.
"Good luck!" Odd called as the brunette left.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Yumi's cheeks were flushed a bright red as she walked under the arches. All around her were her schoolmates, looking at the picture of her printed in the newspaper. Anais Fiquet and Priscilla Blaise were in that group, and they laughed as she walked past.
"Hey, Yumi!" Anais called out. "I need a pink princess costume! Think you can lend me yours?"
"And I need a wig!" Priscilla added.
"Yeah right, keep dreaming!" she retorted, before no longer giving them any thought. Yes, it was embarrassing, but thanks to Ulrich (butterflies began attacking her stomach), she could deal with all the teasing.
Her gaze brushed over to the courtyard, where she saw Patrick waving goodbye at Jérémie and Aelita. The two parted ways, with Patrick heading to the track and the two geniuses heading to the arches, where Yumi was.
In the past week, Patrick had moved into the dorm right across the hall from Jérémie's. While no longer being his temporary roommate, the two had become neighbors. He had also quickly integrated himself into the group, and became their second secret keeper, after Sissi. He wasn't scanned into the supercomputer, but it wasn't necessary yet. On Jérémie's request, the group wanted Patrick to stay out of XANA fights.
While the whole drama with Hervé was surprisingly dying down, Patrick was certainly useful in helping William and Yumi come up with excuses to skip classes, as well as take notes for them.
"Hey, Yumi," Jérémie gently greeted. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, you look lost in thought," Aelita added.
"I'd, uh, rather not talk about it," Yumi replied, before putting on a smile. "What's happening with you two?"
"We just helped Patrick get settled into his new room," Jérémie said.
"And we located a new Replika on the network," Aelita added, the two Einsteins both smiling.
"We're gonna destroy it tonight," Jérémie told the elder girl. "Um, the Replika, not Patrick's new room."
"See you at the factory tonight at 10pm, okay?" Aelita finished.
Yumi couldn't help but crack a smile. The two were finishing each other's thoughts, always on the same page, just like Jérémie's parents.
"I'll be there," and she meant it. Besides, maybe she could work out more of her frustration at her brother and that photo against some of XANA's monsters. She paused; those butterflies were coming back. "Um, can I ask you guys something?"
"Sure," the pink-ette replied, neither her nor Jérémie's smile fading.
She chose to phrase it as hypothetical, "What would you do if the other was being forced to go through an embarrassing situation?" Was what Ulrich did and said to her...normal? Was it right? Wrong?
"Certainly not make it worse," Jérémie answered, his smile subdued now. "Even if I did find it amusing, I could never have the heart to laugh at Aelita's pain."
Ulrich didn't laugh. She appreciated that.
"I'd also probably cheer Jérémie up with an embarrassing memory of my own," Aelita added, stealing a fond glance at said blonde. "Remind him that everyone goes through things like that."
That's what Ulrich did. His story told her that she wasn't alone; she had someone who understood her. Even if their relationship was clearly not 'just-a-friend', though unsure if they could refer to themselves as anything more than that.
So Yumi's responding smile was real, "I see. Thanks, both of you."
"Anything wrong?" Aelita tilted a worried eyebrow.
The elder shook her head, "No. Nothing's wrong." And she meant it. She felt a lot better now. They were promptly interrupted by the warning bell. Perfect timing, in her opinion. "I've got history now. See ya!"
Only when she was out of sight did Aelita dare to reach in her bag and pull out her copy of today's Kadic News.
She and Jérémie shared a knowing glance as they looked once more at the embarrassing photo of their friend. So they already knew that her question to them just now wasn't as hypothetical as she had made it out to be.
"Let's face it," Jérémie whispered, as if afraid Yumi could come back at any second, "she does look awful in pink. Although..." he blushed, "the color really suits you, Aelita..."
Her resulting blush said it all.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Today's Replika was of the Ice Sector. Jérémie had just moored the Skid to a tower, "Skid docked. Do your stuff, Aelita."
"On it," she replied. A couple seconds later, the tower's halo turned green. "Alright, who volunteers to get Translated with William?"
"I vote for Yumi and Ulrich," Odd piped up from his Navskid, and the geisha nearly jumped out of her skin at the mention of her name. "They're good together on a mission."
"Actually," Yumi replied, suddenly nervous, "I-I'd prefer to stay on the Replika this time."
"Why not with me?" Ulrich understandably expressed confusion. "Did I do something to upset you?" He hoped not. Was it this morning in the rec room? He didn't think so; she seemed content when she left.
"No, of course not," the geisha told him, maybe a little too quickly. "I just feel like chilling with Jérémie tonight. Um, pun not intended," she added, sneaking a glance at the icy landscape outside her Navskid window. "Don't worry about it."
Ulrich said nothing. She couldn't see him, unfortunately, so this time, it was difficult to gauge his reaction. Was he now upset with her?
Instead, it was Aelita who spoke up next, "Okay, Yumes, if you say so. I'll send Odd and Ulrich."
"Alright!" Odd cheered. "Let's go!"
"I guess we're ready, Aelita," William said, wisely choosing to remain silent about the sudden tension between Ulrich and Yumi.
"Here we go. Translate William, translate Ulrich, translate Odd."
The three promptly disappeared from their Navskids.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The trio were teleported to a snowy, rocky landscape that was currently experiencing a blizzard.
Thanks to the sharp winds, they could barely hear Aelita over the comm, "Where are you guys?"
"In the middle of a snowstorm," Ulrich replied. He should be freezing, but he wasn't. Thanks to the Translation program, he was only a spectre, and not actually here. The sense of touch didn't apply.
However, sight did. He had to shield his eyes and squint through the falling snow to see the research base in front of them.
"You'll have to be more specific than that," Aelita's voice was soaked in mild amusement. "That's like any one of a thousand areas."
"We can see some kind of base," Odd replied. "We'll go check it out." Being the only building more kilometers in each direction, it had to be where the supercomputer was.
"Okay. Be careful."
"Come on. Let's go," Ulrich told his two partners, pointing to the base.
The trio took off running. As they neared the base, something interesting came to William's mind.
"Have you guys noticed how each of the Replikas' supercomputers are located in environments similar to the sector they're imitating?" he voiced his sudden thought aloud. "The Forest Replika was in the Amazon Rainforest, the Mountain Replika was in the Canadian mountains, the Desert Replika was in the New Mexican desert, the Sector Five Replika was in space, and here, the Ice Replika is in...well, a place like this."
"You got a point?" Odd asked, the three of them still running towards the base.
"No," was William's response. "It's just a thought."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie and Yumi were relaxing in their respective cockpits, waiting for XANA's next move.
"Yumi," the elf spoke up, "out of curiosity, are you mad at Ulrich for something?"
"No, of course not," the geisha replied, relaxing now that the group had gone their separate ways. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, because you never pass up a chance to be on a team with Ulrich, like a giddy pre-teen girl," Aelita cut in, and if Yumi could physically blush at being called out like that, she would. "You were also pretty quick to speak up with your preference to stay with Jérémie. I would say you were nervous."
"Is everything okay between you and Ulrich?" Jérémie asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Everything's fine, I promise," she slowly replied. "That hypothetical question I asked you guys this morning, um...wasn't hypothetical at all."
"We figured," Aelita told her, further telling Yumi that the two geniuses knew about the photo in the paper. "What happened? Did Ulrich say something?"
"You could say that," the geisha began to explain. "After I saw the picture in the paper, I stormed off to the rec room to see if Ulrich, Odd, and William would be willing to help me work out some frustration in a game of foosball. Odd and William's reactions, well, they weren't disrespectful per say. But Ulrich's...he did the exact things that you guys said you would do."
"So he didn't make it worse by laughing," Jérémie filled in the blank.
As did Aelita, "And he told a story of his own to cheer you up."
"Yeah," Yumi replied. "I'm just nervous around him right now because I'm currently re-evaluating that decision I made last summer, the one where I told him we could only be friends. I'm not really comfortable with it anymore." She couldn't deny that it felt good to get all of this off her chest.
"You made that choice," Jérémie softly told her, "because you felt it was the only way to stabilize your rocky relationship. Do you feel like it worked?"
"I do," she answered, recalling the past few months following summer break. "We've had our arguments, like everyone else, but we've managed to work them out by communicating."
That was true. Ever since Ulrich sought to help get her parents back together via the Romeo and Juliet play, he'd kept his promise to try and be more honest with her, to not keep his emotions to himself. He overlooked his jealousy in order to give William a fair chance into the group, and he managed to twist his head back on straight concerning Bringa.
Speaking of whom, it took a reality check from William, but Yumi herself also managed to regain her senses. She still hated Bringa, but more because of her actions following her seeing the supercomputer and causing Odd and Sam to have a fight.
Not to mention her birthday. Yumi was upset, feeling rather sour, and she was unfairly taking that out on Ulrich. Said brunette merely reminded her of them trying to be more honest with each other, and that's what caused her to backtrack and apologize.
They had both matured considerably following that day in the park. She had expected Ulrich to be upset about her choice, but to her surprise, he took it rather well. He didn't protest to it even once.
"'Friends, and that's all', huh? Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Yes."
A sigh. "Okay."
And that was that. He just made sure that no one else was making that decision for her, and once he knew, he stepped back.
"That's good," Jérémie replied. "As long as it did what it was supposed to do."
"Whatever you decide, Yumi," Aelita cut in, "the rest of us will support you."
The geisha smiled, content, "Thanks, guys."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
As Ulrich walked up to the door, Odd and William both kept an eye out around them, their respective weapons at the ready. XANA had attacked them before they even went inside before, and this blizzard was absolutely not helping one bit.
The samurai's gaze wandered to a sign on the wall, reading 'UNION BASE'.
"Aelita, I think I found a clue," he said. "There's a sign here that says 'Union Base'. Position: sixty-three degrees, sixteen minutes north; one-fourty-three degrees, fifteen minutes east."
There was a quick pause. "Got it! You guys are in Siberia, at a scientific base that XANA's taken control of. I'll see if I can download a floor plan. Go on inside in the meantime."
She didn't have to tell them twice.
Ulrich slid the door open, letting the wind blow the snow inside. He quickly entered the hallway, with Odd quickly following as he aimed his arm in one direction and then the other. William held up the rear and closed the door behind him, before leaning against it and sighing. Seeing no threat, Odd rubbed the back of his head.
Ulrich crossed his arms, "Do you guys know if I did anything wrong?" It was clear that he was referring to Yumi. "Because I'm trying to retrace my steps today, and I can't see anything I may have done."
"Well," Odd asked, trying to be helpful, "did you throw her math homework in the school boiler by accident?"
Ulrich immediately glared at him. "That was you."
Unlike the cat, William was actually helpful, "Well, I can't remember you saying anything wrong this morning in the rec room, or at lunch. You cheered her up, Ulrich. You really did; she was pretty calm all during classes. Bit back at any teasing concerning the photo, sure, but she didn't appear to be stewing in anger. That being said," he took a deep breath to steady his nerves, "I did notice how she appeared to be nervous around you at lunch."
"Nervous?" Ulrich asked, slightly alarmed. "Why?"
William just shrugged, "No idea. She wouldn't tell me."
"At least she's still talking to you," Odd piped up. "I'd stop dwelling on it. She'll tell you when she's ready."
"Odd's right," William agreed. "Now, why don't we concentrate on the mission. Aelita, how's the floor plan coming?"
"It's coming," she replied. A quick pause. "Okay, now I've got you. Head for the staircase at the end of the corridor. It'll take you right down to the basement."
"We're on our way, Miss Einstein," Odd replied, as the trio took off in the direction the pink-ette pointed them toward.
As they ran down the staircase, they heard Aelita exclaim, "Frick! Activated tower, guys. XANA's counter-attacking."
"Roger," Ulrich replied, before opening the door they had just approached.
They stood ready to fight, Ulrich in a martial arts pose, Odd with his wrist aimed, and William in front with his Zweihänder posed as a shield. They entered the room—a huge underground space with rock walls, and various staircases on one wall and another door opposite of them—anticipating the worst. But the room was completely empty.
"What kind of attack?" Odd asked.
"Search me," Aelita replied. "Surprise!"
An orange bolt of lightning suddenly struck the middle of the room. As the door closed behind the trio, they were hit by a gust of wind and then temporarily blinded by a bright flash. A smokey black ball crackling with orange electricity had appeared where the lightning struck, and it disappeared to reveal the Clone in its Aelita mask.
"It's the Clone!" William exclaimed.
The eye of XANA had appeared beneath the Clone's feet as a smoking black burn on the floor.
"Did you get that, Aelita?" Ulrich asked, frantic. "XANA's manage to Translate the Clone!"
"That is a pretty awful surprise."
"Sure is!" Odd exclaimed in response. "This might be a good time to deactivate the tower!"
"I'm on it," the pink-ette said. "You three head for the door on the other side of the room."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita's voice cut through the calm atmosphere of the Ice Replika, "Jérémie, activated tower, east of your position."
"We're on our way. Disembarking." He typed on the keypad to his right before teleporting out of the cockpit.
He reappeared on the ground beneath the Skid, with Yumi at his side.
"Here come your vehicles."
The Overwing and Overboard both virtualized in front of them.
"Thanks, Aelita," Jérémie replied, before hopping onto the Overboard. Yumi boarded the Overwing.
The duo immediately took off down the path in front of them.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Clone being Translated wasn't the only shock Odd, Ulrich, and William experienced.
Before anyone could make a move, XANA-Aelita morphed into its William mask in a bright flash of orange, despite the real William being right in front of it.
Said knight immediately took a step back, "Um, Aelita?"
"I saw it," the pink-ette immediately replied, sounding stressed. "Remember, the Translation isn't a devirtualization; it turns you guys into spectres, like images on a screen. Due to that, the Clone doesn't have the same limitations as it does on Lyoko."
"Great." Ulrich's optimism was actually sarcasm. "Just fantastic."
"Be careful," Aelita warned. "It can easily reverse the Translation for you guys."
William charged up and fired an energy slash. XANA-William deflected it with its own Zweihänder.
Odd fired a round of arrows. The Clone blocked them with its weapon, looking bored, until one finally hit it in the arm, causing it to drop its sword. Odd kissed his paws before raising them again.
Ulrich ran down the stairs, with William in tow.
"Come on, Odd!" the samurai called out. "Hurry up!"
The cat quickly joined his friends, running on all fours while XANA-William recovered from its injury.
Ulrich suddenly froze in place. Odd and William turned around to see his face twisted in pain, and behind him was the reason. The Clone had morphed into its Yumi mask and was currently using its telekinesis to hold him. Ulrich was trying his best to struggle, but the Clone's mental grip on him was too strong for his effort to make any sort of difference.
To add insult to injury, the door being them suddenly closed, and locked—indicated by the light on the panel turning red. William and Odd turned back to face the Clone.
"Aelita," the knight took in a shaky breath, "XANA has blocked the door and the Clone can use our powers!"
"Neither of those twists are surprising to me, to be honest," she confessed. "Don't panic about the door. I'll take care of it in no time. As for your powers, sorry, I got nothing." A quick pause. "Okay, I found the electromagnetic lock, but I need a couple of minutes to crack the code. Can you guys hold on that long?"
"We'll try," William replied.
XANA-Yumi tightened its grip on Ulrich, causing him to cry out. Odd took aim and fired a few Arrows. One landed right in the Clone's chest, making its focus falter. Thanks to this, Ulrich managed to get free just enough to sweep the Clone's feet out from under it. It fell to the ground, before morphing its Jérémie mask and creating energy platforms to stand on in mid-air.
Odd cocked his arm as XANA-Jérémie made its way towards them using its created steps. He fired three more Arrows. One hit and destroyed the platform the Clone had just created, causing it to fall to the ground once again.
But it retaliated by promptly firing an energy burst at Odd. Said cat jumped out of the way, causing the energy burst to hit the wall instead. Odd jumped down the stairs as XANA-Jérémie summoned an energy sword and going for Ulrich now.
The samurai managed to block the energy sword with both of his katanas. He got pushed down towards the ground under the surprising amount of strain XANA-Jérémie was putting on him.
William suddenly fired an energy slash, causing its whole body to flicker. Ulrich pushed the energy sword away and it clattered down the stairs before disappearing. XANA-Jérémie fell to the side as the three Lyokowarriors joined back up at the top of the stairs, where the locked door was.
Perfect timing, too. "There you go!" Aelita exclaimed. "Door unlocked!"
The light on the door panel turned green and the door slid open. The trio backed through the door, keeping an eye on the Clone.
"Nice going, Superstar!" Odd said.
Once they were a few paces away from the door, Ulrich smashed the panel with the hilt of a katana. Inside the large room, XANA-Jérémie was lying on the staircase with their eyes closed, not reacting as the door closed. The panel was left smoking as a result of the samurai's hit.
"Which way do we go, Aelita?" Ulrich asked.
"Take the second hallway on your left," she instructed.
"Okay, we're off," William replied, before leading the way.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Yumi, Jérémie, how's it going?" Aelita asked, turning her attention back to the duo on the Replika.
"Activated tower in sight," Jérémie reported.
He and Yumi were nearing the end of the path, where the tower stood on top of an immense iceberg, and it was connected to another glacier just as large with a narrow pathway between them. A Megatank rolled out from behind of the two connected icebergs
"Just a pest or two to get rid of first," Yumi added.
The Megatank opened up and began charging its laser, before firing. Spotting it, Jérémie maneuvered the Overboard out of the way. Yumi leapt up into the air, letting the Overwing get destroyed by the shot, but she landed on the back of the Overboard, behind Jérémie, just as the elf fired a trio of energy arrows at the monster, destroying it.
"Now that's teamwork," she complimented him. He shot back a smile at her in return as he kept driving towards the tower.
"You're gonna need it," Aelita warned. "Two Tarantulas at eleven o'clock."
Said enemies were stationed in front of the door. They both got onto their knees and opened fire the moment Jérémie tried to fly close, forcing him to perform a U-turn and fly back along the path connecting the two icebergs together.
As he and Yumi flew over the adjacent platform, the Overboard was hit and promptly destroyed, sending its two riders to the ground. Fortunately, both landed on said platform on their feet.
They looked back over at the monsters. After moving slightly closer, the Tarantulas opened fire again, forcing the human duo to take cover behind a curved ice rock, one of many surrounding them.
As lasers flew past them, and battered their cover, Yumi quipped, "Talk about being between a rock and a hard place..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Clone pounded on the door from the other side, denting it badly but it remained on its hinges. Eventually, it got fed up and morphed into its Yumi mask to force the door open with its telekinesis. Teeth bared, its XANA eyes scanned the hallway, before it ran down the corridor.
"Ulrich, William, Odd!" Aelita warned the trio, "the Clone is on your tail! Hide somewhere until Jérémie has deactivated the tower!"
"Okay," Odd replied. "We'll hide in the room just in front of us!"
The cat opened and went inside, Ulrich and William right behind him. Being the last one inside, the samurai was the one who closed the door. When he turned around, he got a better look at the room Odd had chosen.
There were a number of computer terminals in a ring shape in the middle of the room, as well as several large tubes full of a strange green liquid. Ulrich wasn't sure what he was expecting concerning the puzzle piece of XANA's overall plan to conquer humanity, but this was certainly not it.
"Wow!" Odd exclaimed. "This looks like Doctor Schrank's laboratory!"
"What is this stuff?" William asked, as the samurai approached their sides.
"Beats me," Ulrich shrugged.
"I'd say some kind of soup," Odd replied.
The trio looked closer at the contents of the tubes. Inside each one, suspended in the liquid, was a brain connected to several wires.
Odd immediately leapt back in disgust, "Ugh! It's brain soup, apparently!"
Ulrich frowned, "Whatever this all is, it's creepy..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
"Yumi, Jérémie," Aelita asked, sounding antsy, "The Clone is cornering the others. I hope Jérémie's already in the tower."
The Tarantulas had stopped firing at them, probably having realized that they were just wasting their energy. Instead, they seemed to be waiting for Yumi and Jérémie to emerge from behind their cover.
"We're almost there," Yumi reassured her friend. "We just have to get past the bouncers." She observed their two enemies as best she could from her vantage point behind the ice rock. She turned back to the elf beside her, "The guys are facing the Clone. We'd better hurry."
"We'll have to force our way through," Jérémie replied.
"Roger that!" The geisha then ran out from behind the rock, causing their enemies to open fire again.
She easily blocked all of their shots at her with her fans. Once she saw an opening, she jumped up into the air and threw one of her fans straight into the eye of a Tarantula, destroying it. She landed right next to the second one and it promptly aimed at her.
Before it could do anything, though, it was shot in its eye by a blue energy arrow. Yumi shielded her face from the resulting explosion before glancing over at Jérémie, who was standing at the other end of the path, before he began running towards the tower.
"Nice job, Prince Charming," she complimented as she got to her feet. "Go on."
He entered the tower at a sprint.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Odd, Ulrich, and William turned around in surprise when the door behind them was suddenly forced open. XANA-Yumi had clearly used its telekinesis to do so.
"This thing never gives up!" William exclaimed.
The door closed and the light on the panel turned red—indicating that XANA had locked it, like it did before—as the Clone raised both of its fans.
"Aelita, the Clone is back!" Ulrich reported.
"Don't sweat it," she replied, sounding relieved. "Jérémie's already in the tower."
Unseen to them, however, her smug smile was replaced with a frown of realization...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie reached the top platform in record time. He had to hurry; the other three were counting on him to take the Translated Clone out of the fight for them. The interface opened, and he went to place his hand on it to log in.
But Aelita's, "Hold on, Jérémie," stopped him.
He raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he turned up to the sky, "A problem?"
"This tower commands the Clone's Translation," she explained, "so the interface must contain the protocols and programs XANA uses to keep it functioning, right?"
"Yes," he replied, confused. "Why do you ask?" Where was she going with this?
"If you hack into the data," she told him, "maybe we can find a way to destroy the Clone once and for all."
Meaning, they'd never have to deal with it again, and XANA would be down a crucial, and powerful, weapon.
The elf broadly smiled in realization, "Of course! Aelita, you're a genius! I'll send you the programs!"
Instead of logging in, Jérémie instead tapped it with his finger, switching to a different view that let him open various windows on the interface. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Clone morphed into its Odd mask before setting its sights on the real Odd. The cat immediately jumped away from it, unnerved that he was actually facing a XANA-possessed copy of himself.
Not any of his friends. Himself.
He leapt to the side. "Yoo-hoo! Other me!" He'd be the distraction.
Odd cocked his arm as the Clone turned around and lunged at him with sharp claws. Odd jumped to avoid the attack, causing the fake to run into the wall instead. It quickly recovered, only to find that Odd and Ulrich had switched places via the samurai using a katana to slice the Clone's leg.
He leapt back to where William and the real Odd were, as the cat crouched and aimed at XANA-Odd while its leg was still flickering.
William charged up and fired another energy slash, only for the Clone to duck just as its leg returned to normal. It then promptly kicked William, and then Odd, into the wall. Now facing Ulrich, it morphed yet again, this time into its Ulrich mask.
"Aelita, it's no picnic here!" Ulrich exclaimed, genuinely terrified at the other him. "Is Jérémie gonna deactivate the tower or not?!"
XANA-Ulrich unsheathed both of its katanas and them both up as if proposing a duel with the real deal.
"Yeah, what's the hold up?!" William agreed. "You said he was already there!"
"Sorry, it's my fault," the pink-ette quickly apologized. "He's retrieving vital data for me. Hang on for another minute, at least!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie sent all the data he could find to Aelita's end. He hoped it was what she was looking for.
"Thanks, Jérémie," the angel said, "I've got what I need. You can enter the code now."
The elf nodded before finally pressing his hand to the interface, logging in.
JEREMIE_
Ulrich flew into a wall. He could only watch as his evil twin walked up to him, both its katanas raised above its head. He held his arms up to shield his face, "Noo!"
CODE_
The Clone swung both swords down at him...
LYOKO_
...But it froze just before the weapons touched him. Eyes wide, the Clone flickered and disappeared. Seeing this, Ulrich relaxed into the wall, relieved, "Phew!"
"Finally!" William did the same, not far away.
Odd was lying on a platform just above them both, and he rolled onto his back, "Nap time!"
On the Replika, Jérémie watched the tower windows fall to the bottom, "Tower deactivated."
Outside, Yumi smiled up at the tower as its halo changed from red to white. He did it...
Aelita breathed a sigh of relief. "Odd, Ulrich, William? Sorry, but nap time's over. Go back into the hallway. The supercomputer is not too far away."
Odd just rolled onto his side again, muttering, "Do we have to?"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie exited the tower with an accomplished smile on his face. Yumi was waiting for him. Feigning a stretch, he said, "That takes care of that."
"Great," she smiled. "Now, maybe we can go home and get some sleep."
"Not yet," Aelita cut in.
The two turned up to the sky, where her voice was coming from. "What's wrong?" Yumi asked.
"The Clone is back," the pink-ette explained. "It's heading straight for the Skid. It can still wreck our mission if it enters code: XANA into the tower or takes out our submarine."
Yumi rolled her eyes, "Of course. You can always count on XANA to mess everything up."
An amused Jérémie asked Aelita, "Any vehicles left for us in your garage?"
"I don't know if Ulrich will mind lending out his equipment," the angel replied, "but here's the Overbike."
Said vehicle virtualized in front of them.
"Oh, he'll understand," Yumi replied, as she hopped onto it as its driver. "I just regret not asking him first."
The moment Jérémie jumped on behind her, she took off down the path, heading back towards the Skid tower.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Translated trio ran through a corridor, with Odd on all fours. They were reaching a corner when Aelita suddenly cut in, "Stop!" They all skidded to a halt, sliding into the wall. "Turn right!"
They obeyed, running over to a door with a short staircase leading up to it. XANA obviously anticipated this, as the light on the door panel was red.
"It's locked, cuz," Odd said.
"Okay, I'll hack the lock. Give me a couple minutes."
Odd sat down on the stairs and relaxed. William kept a sharp eye on the corridor they had just approached this door from, watching out for any surprise attacks.
Ulrich sighed, "Seriously, what did I do?" He sounded slightly confused, almost hurt.
"You still hung up on Yumi's choice to stay with Jérémie this time?" Odd asked.
"It bothers me!" the samurai defended himself. "The only reason she would ever decline a chance to spend time with me is if she's mad at me about something!"
"Well," William attempted, "remember what she told you earlier. You asked her if something was wrong, and she said that everything was fine, very calmly at that. Maybe she just wants to spend some time with Jérémie today. She's allowed to do that."
Ulrich sighed again, this time relenting, "Yeah, she is. And no, I'm not jealous; I know she only sees Jérémie as a brother. I'm just...hoping her choice wasn't because of something I did."
"I'm sure everything is fine," the knight replied. "Take this from someone who used to like Yumi the way you do: the bond between you two can't be broken so easily. If it is about you, she's probably thinking something over."
Odd suddenly began wearing a teasing smile, "Maybe she's thinking twice about her choice to make you two 'just friends and that's all'."
Ulrich immediately turned away, his arms crossed in denial, "Nope! That's impossible! I have no right to question her decision!"
"Buddy," Odd's voice was suddenly soft and sympathetic, a far cry from teasing, "you're allowed to have feelings on the matter. Especially since it involves you."
"How do you feel about her choice?" William asked. "Just out of curiosity."
The samurai sighed for a third time, this time with a hint of sorrow, "At first, I didn't like it. I didn't say a single word to anybody, but I really wanted to rant and rave about the unfairness of it. At least...until that fight between her parents. That's when I started to understand her reasons, because that fight was caused by a lack of communication. So I promised her to make sure that we didn't become her parents. Now...well, now, she and I are the closest we have ever been. So my denial isn't about not wanting to get my hopes up. It's more about wanting to keep things between us stable. And if that means remaining her friend for the rest of my life, then...I can live with that..."
Odd was quiet. He had never realized that Ulrich saw it that way until now. Placing himself in Ulrich's shoes, if he and Sam had the same 'just friends' thing between them, Odd would react the same way. Upset at first, but being Sam's friend was better than not being in her life at all.
"So that's why you want to know if you did something wrong," William muttered. He spoke up, "If it bothers you that much, Ulrich, then just ask her."
"Right," the samurai's back remained to them, however, "open communication. Thanks, guys."
"No problem," Odd smiled.
Behind them, the door light turned green, and the door opened. "It's open! Get going."
"Come on," William nudged Ulrich's side as Odd ran up the stairs, "maybe taking out this supercomputer will put you in a better mood."
"Yeah, let's do it."
The samurai followed his two friends into the room.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The Clone—now unable to morph into any other mask besides its Aelita one—reached the Skid tower on foot, before stopping and clenching its fist. It could still stop the group.
"Hey, XANA!"
It turned around in time to see Yumi and Jérémie approaching on the Overbike. The elf jumped off and activated his wings to fly, as Yumi jumped off a little farther away. XANA-Aelita dodged the Overbike and it exploded when it hit the base of the tower.
"Sorry, Ulrich!" Yumi exclaimed. "Your tactic is a good one, but it didn't work that time!" The samurai was the one who first thought of using your vehicle to take out an enemy. Odd quickly picked up on it, but Ulrich used it the most.
XANA-Aelita formed an Energy Field in each hand and ran towards Yumi. The geisha easily dodged both shots, before ducking to narrowly avoid a punch from the Clone. Yumi leapt back to put some distance between her and her enemy, and the Clone attempted to follow, only to find that its legs were literally frozen in place.
It glanced back and up at where Jérémie was hovering, just as he lowered his hand from using his power of Creation.
Before XANA-Aelita could blink, Yumi summoned and threw both fans. Two slices to its chest later, and it disappeared in a flash of orange and black smoke.
Jérémie smiled as he landed, "All clear, Aelita. We took care of the Clone." Beside him, Yumi caught and de-summoned her fans.
"Perfect!" the pink-ette exclaimed. "It's smooth sailing from here!"
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita was leaning back in her chair, carefully studying the monitor in front of her, when she heard Odd call out to her, "Aelita, what do we do with the supercomputer?"
She straightened back up, ready to work. They found it. Perfect timing. Yumi and Jérémie had just taken out the Clone.
"Should we bust everything," William asked, "or should we finesse it?"
"I think finessing it would be a safer bet," she replied. "Describe the thing to me."
"Well, uh, there are a lot of wires and a ton of electric thingamajigs," Ulrich said.
"Thanks, that's a big help," she bit, sarcastically. "You're gonna have to be a little more specific."
"Ha ha, very funny," Ulrich replied. "Well, we're in Siberia, so maybe that's a factor?"
"Oh, good thinking, Ulrich."
There was a pause as she typed away, searching for the types of supercomputers commonly found or used in Siberia. The first image that came up from her search was one that showed a supercomputer shaped like a dome, with glass or plastic around the outside giving a view of the circuitry within. Like Ulrich said, there were many wires connected from the dome to the ceiling. That had to be it.
"You're right, Ulrich," she said. "It is a factor. I think the supercomputer is based on a Russian M13 machine."
"Da! If you say so!" Odd replied.
"Give me a couple of minutes, and I'll tell you how to destroy it."
Right then, however, a Replika scan window opened up, interrupting Aelita's typing. To her chagrin and unpleasant surprise, it began discovering multiple Replikas, one after the other.
"Uh oh..." she muttered.
"Aelita, what's going on?" Jérémie asked, from his position next to the Skid tower.
"XANA's consolidating the energy from all of the Replikas," she explained, unable to take her eyes off that window.
"Huh?!" Jérémie and Yumi both asked in surprise.
"A-And I'm not talking about just two or three!" Her green eyes were locked onto that number...
Ten and counting.
"What?! There are more out there?! How many are we talking about?!" Yumi asked, rightfully alarmed.
"Think double digits..."
"XANA must be preparing something," Jérémie cut in, solemnly, "but what?"
"I wish I knew..."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The ground of the Replika suddenly shook with incredible force, almost causing Jérémie and Yumi to lose their balance. After a pause, there was another quake.
"What was that?!" Yumi asked.
"I have no idea!" Jérémie replied, just before the ground shook for a third time.
A fourth quake happened soon after, and to the elf's surprise, this one was accompanied by a loud thud against the ice.
"What's that noise?" Jérémie turned to Yumi.
Another quake. The sound was also louder.
"It's coming from...behind us!" Yumi exclaimed.
The two turned around and immediately gaped at the sight, stunned at the sight. It was a new monster, a gigantic one. It was much taller than the tower it was slowly approaching—the one the Skid was moored to. It looked just like XANA's new body that it had revealed to them on the Volcano Replika, but wider and with shorter legs. Its face was also white with a large eye of XANA and two floppy bits dangling from its 'mouth'. There were six antler-like things on its head, and its left arm was a massive sword with another large eye of XANA on it, plus several smaller ones. Steam emanated from its body, and with every heavy step it took, the ground shook and bits of lava were sprayed into the air.
"That's incredible..." Yumi muttered, awed at the sight of this monster.
The thing slowly got closer to the Skid, and Jérémie and Yumi backed away.
"Guys! I-I'm getting something on my screen!" Aelita called out to them, stunned and scared. "What is it?!"
"Aelita?" Yumi shakily called out. "We may have a problem. It's a new monster, and it's huge! Any idea how to get rid of it?"
"Not right now," she replied, not bothering to hide her fear. "The only solution I have is to run!"
And that's exactly what they did. Mid-sprint, Yumi threw both fans and Jérémie fired a trio of energy arrows, but their attacks just hit the rock surface—Yumi's fans bouncing right off—and did no damage.
After taking a couple more steps, the monster swung its sword arm and dragged it along the ground, towards the duo. Many shards of ice were torn up from the platform and threw it into the air. Jérémie and Yumi turned and ran, but it was too fast.
They were promptly devirtualized, their blue pixels raining from the monster's sword arm as it brought it back up away from the ground.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Aelita could only watch in horror as Yumi and Jérémie's ID cards devirtualized on her screens. One second later, two scanners were shown to be in use.
"Aelita!" Down in the scanner room, Jérémie sounded breathless, yet frantic. "You have to warn the others! With its size, that monster can destroy the Skid in a fraction of a second!"
On the holomap, said monster—represented by a large red triangle—was slowly making its way back towards the Skid tower.
Jérémie was right, Aelita knew that. But they were so close to taking out the supercomputer! With one swing of William's sword alone, they could destroy this Replika! But...his, Odd, and Ulrich's lives were more important. In that second of William raising his Zweihänder, this monster could destroy the Skid. By then, it would be too late.
Having made her choice, she opened communications back up with the Translated trio.
"Guys?"
"Got any info?" Odd asked. "Not that we're bored or anything."
"I'm gonna bring you in," she said, already typing in the necessary commands to bring them back.
That surprised them. "What? Why? We're so close!" Ulrich protested.
"We have no choice," she replied. "If not, you three will stay virtualized forever!"
"Is there a problem on the Replika?" William asked.
"You could say that." A huge problem, that is. Jérémie and Yumi were both taken out in one hit.
"Then why not send only one of us back?" Ulrich inquired.
It was better to just show them. "You'll see when you get here. De-translate Ulrich, de-translate Odd, de-translate William."
She sent Ulrich to the main cockpit, and Odd and William back to their Navskids.
Odd quickly woke up, "Huh?!" The holomap showed the monster's red triangle dangerously close to the Skid. "What's this chunky hunk doing here?"
"Woah! What the heck is that thing?!" Ulrich exclaimed, having woken up as well. "You're right, that is certainly a problem!"
"He's probably as mean as he is ugly!" William said. "Aelita, get us out of here! Now!"
"Already on it," she replied. "Docking release."
The Skid disconnected from the tower just before the monster grabbed hold of the structure, turning its halo red. It raised its sword arm to swing at the Skid, but Ulrich piloted it out of reach just in time. The tower moved around under the monster's weight, ending up standing at an angle. As the Skid flew away, the monster let go of the tower and its halo turned white.
By this time, Jérémie and Yumi had joined Aelita in the lab, standing on either side of her chair. The pink-ette breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she saw Ulrich pilot the Skid back down into the water below.
"It's a mountain, not a monster," Jérémie commented. It was very subtle, but he was still shaking in fear from the giant surprise XANA had got them.
"I can't wait to see what Odd's gonna call it," Yumi quipped in slight amusement.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Back in the lab, the other five carefully watched as Odd thought of a name for this new monster.
He smiled when he got it, "The Kolossus, but with a 'K' like in KO!"
"I dunno who's gonna get KO'd," Ulrich said, "but the name sure suits him."
"This is a disaster," Yumi exclaimed. "As soon as we try to step foot on a Replika now, it'll be there to devirtualize us before we can say 'Translate'!"
William crossed his arms, "Yeah, that's a real problem. We were so close this time too!"
"One thing is for sure," Aelita solemnly cut in. "We have to change our strategy. Right now, XANA controls hundreds of supercomputers all over the world." She shook her head, "We'll never be able to destroy all of them if we continue to tackle them one at a time."
"In that case, maybe we should start focusing on the Volcano Replika," Jérémie quietly suggested. On his face was a very troubled expression. "If it's XANA's new home, then maybe taking it out is the answer..."
"Whatever the solution, we'll work on it together, Jer," she sent him a reassuring smile.
Though still visibly concerned, he returned her gesture with one of his own.
Odd yawned, "Stick with it. But I'm ready to stick to my pillow right now. If not, I'll sleep through my math test tomorrow."
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
Jérémie and Aelita led the way across the bridge to the sewer passage. William and Odd were right behind them, while Ulrich and Yumi both brought up the rear. All of them just wanted to sleep.
Just ask her, the brunette told himself. If it really bothers you, then ask.
"Uh...Yumi?" he quietly spoke up, suddenly nervous.
"Yeah?" she turned her head to face him. Welp, too late to back out now.
Fortunately, the other four had already disappeared down the manhole. Good, that way he wouldn't be embarrassed if he said a wrong thing that Odd found funny.
"Um," he scratched the back of his head, "are you...sure that you're not mad at me? I-I mean we always tackle missions together, so it just surprised me–"
"Ulrich."
She cut him off, and when he obeyed and snuck a glance at her, she was warmly smiling. That alone made him feel better—she wasn't mad at him at all.
"Yes, I'm sure," she softly told him. "I'm not angry at all, much less at you. Annoyed at my brother, sure, but not mad. Actually, it's quite the opposite."
Huh? The opposite? As in...happy?
She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Good night," and kissed him gently on the cheek, before walking away.
Yumi left behind a blushing and stuttering Ulrich. "Uh...good...good night!" he stuttered as he waved at her.
She was happy. He hadn't done anything wrong today. Odd and William were right; he had nothing to worry about, after all. Happy, not angry...
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
The next morning, students were out in the courtyard, chatting. Tamiya waved the day's issue of the Kadic News in the air, this one featuring a photo of Hiroki on the cover—to Yumi's surprise.
"Today in the Kadic News!" Milly announced, as she and Tamiya walked through the crowd. "A cheat sheet for making it through your medical check-up! An illustrated recipe: rillette crepes! Next week's upcoming Winter Formal dance! And an exclusive photo of Hiroki Ishiyama that you're definitely not going to wanna miss!"
At a nearby bench, Yumi was reading the article on her brother, having borrowed William's copy. "He admitted that he broke the rules according to our bet? To another human being?"
"Apparently," Odd shrugged. "And to make it up to you, he submitted the embarrassing photo you were going to send if he had lost."
It was a photo of Hiroki as a baby, completely covered in a mess of food. It was the type of picture that parents liked to show to other parents and look back upon with fond memories, while the child in said picture averted their eyes in embarrassment.
Jérémie and Aelita were sharing a copy of their own. "What could've prompted him?" the pink-ette asked. "He's not one to do something like that of his own free will."
The blonde genius just shrugged, not having the answer.
Ulrich joined the group at this moment, emerging from the dorms. "Morning, guys," he greeted his friends with a smile.
Odd and William shared a knowing glance. "Hey, buddy," Odd held up the article about Hiroki, "was this what you wanted to talk to Hiroki about yesterday?"
Yumi immediately turned to face the brunette. Said boy just shrugged, "Yeah, so? I just told him Yumi's side of the story, and he asked me how to make it up to her. My advice was to 'make things even'. His brain did the rest of the work."
He didn't view it as a big deal, but to Yumi, it meant the world. He didn't need to talk to Hiroki, but he did, because he wanted to make things fair. She had told him what irked her the most—that being Hiroki sending the photo earlier than they had agreed on—and he paid attention to it.
No matter what arguments they got into, she would always need him. A blush on her face, Yumi Ishiyama finally made her choice.
She handed the newspaper in her hand back to William, "Hey, Ulrich. Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"
Ulrich blinked in surprise, as the other four immediately all leaned closer to the two. They wanted to see where this was going.
A light blush on his face, the brunette replied, "Um, sure."
He did not protest or struggle once as she led him to the nearby park by the hand.
!~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~!
She took him to the same bench where she told him they could only be friends. She felt it was only appropriate, a nice bookend.
"What's up?" he asked, leaning casually against the back of the bench.
Yumi took a deep breath to steady her nerves. No backing out, Ishiyama. "Last September, I said the two of us could only be friends."
"For good reasons," he cut in, catching her off-guard. On his face was a solemn and regretful expression. "You're right. We were just going around in circles, neither together nor apart. My initial reaction, while not spoken aloud, probably just proves you were right. So if you're going to apologize for it, don't."
So, he was ashamed of his actions back then. That Ulrich was jealous all the time and unaware that his jealousy was just hurting everyone else, especially Yumi.
She understood. She was ashamed of her actions back then as well. Emilie and Sissi both deserved better.
"I wasn't, actually," Yumi softly admitted, "but it does make me feel better, knowing you've matured enough to understand my reasons."
Ulrich nodded. He did.
She continued, "And after your actions yesterday, I finally feel comfortable enough lifting that boundary. If it's alright with you, I'd like to give us two another shot."
Ulrich blinked at her in surprise, a blush on his face. "R-Really?" She nodded. "O-Okay!" he smiled, replying a little too fast out of nervousness. "But, um..." his smile faded into a sad frown, "I'd rather not lose what we have now. You're too important to me. If pursuing a relationship with you means losing our friendship, then...I'd rather not take the chance."
"I don't want to lose what we have now either," she quietly confessed. "So we'll just act like we normally do. The only change is that if anyone asks us if we're together, we won't deny it. No matter how many arguments we get into, you're too important to me to not try first."
She was mildly surprised to see some tears pooling up in his brown eyes, but she didn't comment on it. She was getting emotional too. This was actually happening...
A seemingly magnetic force suddenly hit the two and started pulling them together. Neither of them fought it, though. They had felt it once before, and it was a wonderful feeling, even if it only lasted for a second before the Return in time broke them apart.
This time, however, when their lips pressed together, nothing dared to interrupt them.
!~~~J~E~R~L~I~T~A~~R~O~L~E~S~W~A~P~~A~U~~~!
Next Episode: 66 - The Lucky Seven / Following the revelation of the Kolossus and how it's powered, the group prepares to finally take on the mysterious Volcano Replika.
A/N: Further inspiration comes from Evolution's 'Intrusion', also known as 'The Stowaway'. It's the only Evolution episode that I will take inspiration from for the main story; in this case, the Ulumi scene in the forest. All other instances will be in side stories. I know from a very recent interview that Evolution is not considered canon, but that's not the reason I'm not covering it for this AU, rather because I can't determine a way to work Tyron, the Cortex, and the missing mom plot into the story. If I was to tackle it, I'd rework things to mirror my "A World Without Danger" story, and maybe substitute the missing mom plot to either Waldo Schaeffer being taken to help the Swiss government on a super secret project (aka: the Cortex, which would keep the tie Waldo has to Tyron) or Jérémie finding out more about his mother's side of the family.
Now to address the changes I made to the plot surrounding the photo. In canon ('Cold Sweat'), the photo is sent to the newspaper by Odd as a prank supposedly, who convinces Ulrich to take the fall for him in order to avoid Yumi's wrath—which is the most egregious thing he ever does in canon in my opinion, because it really strains Ulrich and Yumi's already shaky relationship. Furthermore, yes, Odd does eventually come out with the truth, but if you read the script, there's not a single apology to either of them, and if he does apologize, it's off-screen when it needed to be on-screen. I'm very sorry to Odd fans, but this episode really soured me to S4 Odd (S1 Odd is superior, you can't change my mind), and made 'Cold Sweat' one of my top three worst CL episodes. All of that is why I changed it to Yumi losing a bet with Hiroki and put more focus on Yumi re-evaluating her relationship with Ulrich.
Also, a few people really wanted to see the Lyokowarriors face off against the Clone in their masks, as in William VS. XANA-William. Sorry, but canonically, this is the closest you guys will get to that concept. And the school dance announced at the end is totally not setting something up for the final chapter.